Botswana's government has issued an urgent warning that an alarming number of its citizens are being lured to Russia under false pretenses and forced to fight against Ukraine, the Ministry of International Relations said in a statement published Saturday.
The ministry continues to receive desperate calls from Botswana nationals already on the front line and has urged citizens to verify the authenticity of any job offers before accepting them. In December, the government had identified at least two young nationals who may have been recruited.
The disclosure comes as the All Eyes on Wagner collective published the names of more than 1,400 Africans recruited by Moscow between January 2023 and September 2025, of whom more than 300 have been killed. Kenya has separately reported that roughly 1,000 of its citizens were recruited by Russia.